#th;ariana

[royalrites]

desta / @glassfm:

What must it be like, to be a Queen dowager of a country? Did she miss ruling, or miss her husband more? As she looked at the Dowager Queen of Spain from across the room, Ariana had to wonder such questions. If her husband died while she remained childless, would Italy be in good hands? Would her voice remain heard, or would she be powerless?

It wasn't a topic that Ariana much wanted to dwell on, and yet it lingered in her mind and if she wasn't careful, she would soon be caught staring. In an effort to prevent such a thing, Ariana rose, making her way across the room as if she'd meant to do so the entire time, merely waiting until the right moment. "Your majesty, my sympathies." She murmured graciously. "It was so hard to extend condolences in recent times, I'm glad to make amends now."

[royalrites]

adrien / @warscorned​

Dappled sunlight falling across her features, Ariana was enjoying Switzerland's weather as she wandered along the paths of one of the castle gardens. For so long, being safe meant trying to stay inside away from contagion and being outside in pleasant weather still felt like a luxury, the sun falling down on her in full beams instead of a shaft from a window.

She shouldn't have been surprised when she wandered across someone else enjoying the weather, but she was. Not a royal, but a guard without anyone to guard, it seemed. "Oh." She was hardly worried - she had her own guard with her, of course, and no reason to suspect that the stranger had tried to meet her alone. "My apologies. Did I interrupt a private practice session?"

[royalrites]

priya / @gcldencrcwns​:

While Ariana was loathe to admit it, Italy needed help desperately, the plague having decimated so much of what they had until it was difficult to cling to the vestiges of glory that one would expect from royalty. They needed allies badly and Ariana viewed the gathering in Switzerland not so much as a party, but a gathering to settle business across the realm and give them all a fair chance at flourishing.

Or perhaps not fair. Things were seldom fair, and perhaps that was why Ariana chose to seek out the Queen of the Netherlands. Like her, she knew the Queen to not be the mother of any children, and maybe she hoped that would garner sympathy, some commonality that would help them. “Your Majesty. On your own today?” She asked, not seeing the king with her.

[royalrites]

isabella / @reginamater​:

The stories that Ariana had heard of the Scottish queen and the image that she was met with during her stay in Switzerland did not match up and while it was true that Ariana was one to listen to gossip, that didn't necessarily mean that she believed it, or that she didn't understand that sometimes a women needed to scream her frustrations. If the Scottish queen was the type to scream, but Ariana knew what they said about redheads.

Having spotted the Scottish queen, Ariana quickly made her way over, a beaming smile on her face. "Your Majesty, how lovely to see you. I was just going to take to the gardens for a picnic, would you care to join me? There's wine." She offered quickly, hoping the idea would tempt the other into accepting.